Would you like to spend an entire day without shoes? Does
it sound fun? Does it sound scary? Does it sound challenging? Maybe it just
sounds… interesting. If you’d like to give it a try, then this Saturday, May
26, is the day for you!
Your Day Without Shoes is an annual event started by ThePrimalfoot Alliance to promote foot health and barefoot freedom. If you don’t
know it by now, shoes are THE cause of virtually ALL of our foot problems in the
United States, from bunions to blisters, corns to calluses, flat foot and
fallen arches, athlete’s foot and toenail fungus, and of course, that infamous
stink. Going barefoot really is SO MUCH healthier than wearing shoes, but we
unfortunately live in a shoe-obsessed society. For the sake of our health, and
the freedom to enjoy simply going barefoot from time-to-time, we must liberate
our feet. This Saturday, spend the entire day barefoot. And don’t just sit
around the house; purposely go public in your bare feet. If the thought of that
sounds scary, let that be an indication to you of how shoe-obsessed our culture
is. However, there is good news: most people want going barefoot in public to be socially acceptable!*
Your Day Without Shoes was started in part as a response
to a campaign by TOMS shoe company (“One Day Without Shoes”). The TOMS campaign
asks people to go barefoot for a day to raise awareness for poor shoeless
children in Africa. I’m not going to discuss TOMS or the fact that it’s a
for-profit company misrepresenting itself as a charity, but I will say that A
LOT of people participate in their campaign. Many of these people are
undoubtedly good people and think they are doing a charitable service, but I am
also convinced that many of these people also participate because the
campaign gives them an “excuse” to enjoy a day barefoot. When questioned, they say
they are “raising awareness” and point to the large shoe company sponsoring the
event. What jerk of a manager would kick you out because you’re suffering
through the day barefoot to “raise awareness” for poor children? Besides, if
they DO kick you out it only proves TOMS’ point: going without shoes is hard. Actually,
the only point that is proved is that we live in a shoe-obsessed society. Which
is why we need Your Day Without Shoes to highlight that our obsession with
footwear is actually an unhealthy one and that we need the freedom to go
barefoot for our own good health. If you really want to point them to a higher authority to justify your barefootedness, why not show them a copy of The Barefoot Book? (shameless plug!) Or just print-off the fact sheet found on my website.
*according to a non-scientific but likely accurate
facebook poll conducted by The Primalfoot Alliance (link).
